TravisCobra ARRA Sample Letters and Generation Procedures
Posted on March 11th, 2009 by sarah.knight | 27 comments »
Category: 2009 Stimulus
Topics: arra, release 8.3, traviscobra
Category: 2009 Stimulus
Topics: arra, release 8.3, traviscobra
We have published a document that allows you to see what the new ARRA letters look like and describes some of the new ARRA processes that are included in TravisCobra version 8.3.
The new letters include:
Letter 69: ARRA Enrollment Form
Letter 70: ARRA Enrollment Confirmation
Letter 71: ARRA Open Enrollment Letter
TravisCobra ARRA Release 8.3:Letter Generation Procedure and Sample Letters
27 Responses to “TravisCobra ARRA Sample Letters and Generation Procedures”
Comments are closed for this article.
March 11th, 2009 at 06:11 PM
Given the changes in COBRA, won’t the General COBRA notice to new employees need to be changed also advising of the subsidy options? And would there be any requirement for sending out a new notice to all current employees because of this change?
March 11th, 2009 at 08:15 PM
Will the ARRA notification advise a PQB of their coverage cost at both the full 100% (102%) cost as well as the 35% cost assuming they are eligible for the subsidy? Both figures should be shown and the PQB should determine which figure applies to his/her situation.
March 12th, 2009 at 08:59 AM
@Kathleen: There is a new block that can be placed into letters, B037, that has the wording about the ARRA subsidy. If a PQB is ARRA eligible then that wording, as long as the block is on the letter, will print on the election notice and the ARRA Enrollment Form will print. There is also a Re-Notification process that will re-notify existing PQBs (termed, pending, enrolled) about the change.
March 12th, 2009 at 09:01 AM
@Beth: This feature will be added to TravisCobra and WebCOBRA soon.
March 12th, 2009 at 01:58 PM
I ran the ARRA Stimulus Process in our WEBCOBRA system for a very large group that we have and no letters generated for the current COBRA enrollees or for the people with the status of reduced hours and loss of coverage. Wouldn’t those people be eligible to receive the letter? If so, how would I go about getting those letters generated.
March 12th, 2009 at 02:40 PM
I have two questions?
1) Will we have the option of notifying all PQBs that have a QE falling inbetween 09/01/08 and current of the new ARRA guidelines? It appears right now that the system under TravisCOBRA will only notify PQBS with a QE of Termination.
2)Regarding payments. Will TravisCOBRA credit any current March April May payments that have been made already correctly to the ARRA 35% subsidy, thereby changing the current PTD of the PQB? Additionally, will the option be made to have the total premium due show and enter both the Employer subsidy portion, and the PQ subscriber portion?
Thank you for your time?
March 12th, 2009 at 03:39 PM
@Jeannette: 1) That feature is available now. Go to the 8.3 .ftp website to download the patch. 2) We are looking into adding a crediting process for later ARRA releases. 3) This is currently being done and will be available in the next release, 8.30.08, of the TravisCOBRA patch.
March 13th, 2009 at 07:59 AM
Sarah,
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I appreciate all the time and effort that has gone into the upgrades and customer service.
March 13th, 2009 at 09:37 AM
@Tracey: This issue is being addressed in the next WebCOBRA hotfix, along with the ability to choose any and all event types in the Re-Notification wizard.
March 13th, 2009 at 10:11 AM
We are about to upgrade our system to 8.30 and the ARRA release doesn’t mention anything about crediting premiums forward for someone who is certified under the subsidy assistance. Please confirm if TravisCOBRA will forward the paid to dates/roll premiums forward (if a PQB already paid for March and April at the full rate) OR if we have to perform this action manually.
I appreciate your help.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:13 PM
I have seen different information regarding what premiums are subsidized. Can you clarify if this subsidy applies to all benefits or only to medical premiums. Thank you!
March 13th, 2009 at 01:28 PM
@Brandi: We are suggesting that you contact the DOL directly for those types of regulation questions.
March 13th, 2009 at 01:43 PM
@Jon: That feature will be released on the latest patch, 8.3.0.08, which will be available on the .ftp site later this afternoon.
March 13th, 2009 at 01:47 PM
The newer release is certainly better, however we noticed the re-notification does not send out letters to members who had QE’s on or after 9/1/08 who elected continuation but let the coverage lapse due to non-payment or for reasons other than non-commencement. Can you explain why?
March 13th, 2009 at 01:51 PM
We also noticed when the renotification is sent to enrolled employees, the system automatically applied the subsidy – even though we have not verified their eligibility. Is this corrected in the 8.3.0.08 release that you will be posting later today?
March 13th, 2009 at 03:03 PM
@Sebrina: Yes, 8.3.0.08 should be available on the .ftp site later today. If not, early next week. This release will allow for PQBs who termed due to non-payment to be re-notified, originally it was just non-commenced. This release will also only charge the 65% when the user checks Activate ARRA Stimulus on the PQB Action Screen.
March 13th, 2009 at 03:17 PM
Sarah,
Hello again, thank you for all of your prompt responses.
I was wondering if the following two options will be added or could be added.
1) Reversal of ARRA Re-Notification Process. I was wondering if somehow after the report was generated but prior to the records being marked to re-notify, or if maybe the reports could generate and give administrators on option to verify that the records are correct. I was thinking something along the lines of how it verifies that data was correct before printing automatic letters.
2) Will the option to run only ARRA re-notifications be made possible?
Thank you again for your time.
March 13th, 2009 at 03:26 PM
@Jeannette: Thanks for your ideas. If you could post them on our Ideabook at http://ideabook.travisoft.com/, we’d like to see if other users would appreciate these features as well!
March 16th, 2009 at 11:27 AM
I just got off the phone with the Department of Labor- who assured me that dental and vision coverage would be eligible for the subsidy as well. Prior posts seem to contract this.
What’s the deal?
Thanks! :)
March 16th, 2009 at 01:22 PM
@Genev: That’s been our stance (that Dental and Vision are eligible) since the final bill came out of conference committee. It’s good to hear they agree!
March 16th, 2009 at 01:26 PM
Sarah,
I just posted my thoughts onto Ideabook. It took a moment to figure it out.
I was not aware of this previously, and wonder how many members are aware of the great opportunity to share and suggest ideas, and help vote them into action.
Thank you again for all your time and effort.
March 17th, 2009 at 09:55 AM
Hi Sarah,
Will you post a note on the blog when the next release is available. Will there be another release after the DOL provides the Model notice and what changes will be implemented in these releases. Will the ARRA wizard change and have a separate letter as opposed to using the current notice letters with the Block.
Thanks for all of your prompt responses.
March 17th, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Hello,
I noticed that there is not a way to reverse or end ARRA stimulus, in the event that the PQB is no longer eligible for the subsidy, due to becoming eligible for other coverage, or one of the other possiblities. Will there be a way to reverse the ARRA Vefification?
Has the system been updated to allow adminstrators the option to show both the total premium and the ARRA premium yet?
Thank you,
Jeannette
March 17th, 2009 at 11:21 AM
@jodi: Yes, we’ll post when the DOL provides the model notices. We’ll decide on the existing/new letter based on the changes.
@Jeannette: We will be adding in TravisCobra the ability to opt-out of the stimulus. This already exists in WebCOBRA. Please contact support for the total premium/ARRA premium feature.
March 17th, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Jesse,
Thank you for your prompt response.
Will that option to opt out, be added so that:
If a PQB was initially determined ARRA eligible and is no longer eligible, that the ARRA eligibility can be removed with an explanation, to be provided in an ARRA Denial or End of ARRA letter?
March 17th, 2009 at 01:38 PM
What we are to send to employees who are terminated after 03/01, who may be eligible for subsidy. If under Prior Activity, I choose ARRA Enrollment form, the subsidy enrollment form prints but there is no detailed explanation. In the Sample letters that were provided last week, there is an enrollment form (Appendix B) that is more detailed but has no signature line. When is this form to be used? Thanks for your continued help.
March 17th, 2009 at 02:11 PM
@Jeannette: You’re welcome! We’ll also be adding in an ARRA denial letters, and later in the year an end-of-ARRA letter
@Helen: If the ARRA Enrollment form generated did not include the opening paragraph explaining ARRA, please contact support. There may be a missing data element from your letter.